All Posts By Allison Milam

A Florida native and Brooklyn resident, Allison is a firm believer that there is no more perfect food in the world than a good meatball and no bad mood that some therapeutic grocery shopping can’t fix. Now Associate Editor at FoodNetwork.com, she got her start at Food Network when she spent the summer of 2012 as an intern – and just never left.

We’re all better with a little beauty sleep, and the same goes for oatmeal, if you’re asking us. For those arriving late to the overnight-oats craze, let us tell you one thing: A little magic happens when unassuming oats are left to soak in milk (or whatever milk alternative you fancy) overnight. While you’re sleeping, they soften up just right, laying the perfect foundation for whatever fruits, spices or nuts you’re looking to throw in there too. They also are a total godsend in the make-ahead department, making mornings easy-breezy.

If you’ve never tried making Overnight Oatmeal before, or if you’re looking for new ways to prep yours, we’ve got creative, easy-to-make assemblies that’ll change your morning routine in all the right ways, whether you take your oats cold or hot.

This year marks the fifth anniversary of Feast Portland in Oregon, the annual celebration of America’s vibrant food culture, with a special emphasis on Portland and the Pacific Northwest’s culinary footprint. If you’ve ever been to a food festival, you know that saving room in your stomach for bite after bite is tricky business. But there are some morsels that we couldn’t help but go back for more of. As the weekend wraps up, these are the best bites we ate at Feast this year.

One of our favorite meals of the entire week is brunch, and Sunday’s Brunch Village event lineup was jam-packed with early morning favorites. The Fried Chicken Biscuit with Pimento Cheese (pictured above) from John Gorham’s team at Toro Bravo was one worth braving a snaking line. The chicken was juicy, spiced and perfectly crispy, the biscuit was uber-buttery, and the pimento cheese slathered on top provided a creamy bite.

The weighty pots in your kitchen likely didn’t get a lot of love the last few months, when lighter, cooler picks were in high demand. Now, whether the weather is reflecting it or not, we’ve got fall on the brain, and a big batch of soup is one of the first things we can’t wait to cook. These are the recipes that’ll fill our bowls first.

Break out the biggest pot in your kitchen for a cheesy, creamy dose of soup-induced comfort. Simply puree broccoli together with grated cheese, milk and half-and-half to get a taste of the crowd-favorite dish made right at home: Ree Drummond’s thick and hearty Broccoli Cheese Soup (pictured above). Read more

If you ask us, the phrase “winner, winner, chicken dinner” is no coincidence. That’s because chicken is a winner on so many fronts: It can be cooked in a flash, satisfies like nobody’s business and is arguably one of the most-versatile proteins you’re ever going to cook with. As an ode, we’ve got a whole week’s worth of chicken recipes that can hit the table in 30 minutes flat and save the day on busy nights.

Sundays are for a lot of things: watching football, helping hammer out homework and maybe even doing some dreaded laundry. They’re also best spent in the kitchen, when you have a little more time than usual. This week, use your Sunday to get a head start on this week’s dinner by fixing one of our favorite make-ahead recipes that you can cook now and serve later.

Some recipes get better and better the longer you let them sit in the fridge — and lasagna is one of them. With time, the flavors get a chance to meld together, yielding one totally hearty and flavorful dish when you get the chance to carve into it. Spend the afternoon making Food Network Magazine’s Spinach Lasagna with Mushroom Ragu (pictured above), which boasts a satisfying meatiness without any meat. Since you can assemble this vegetarian, spinach-laced casserole a day ahead and refrigerate, you can also consider it a weekday win.

In that little slice of time that falls between school and soccer practice, ballet rehearsal or piano lessons, the odds are high that tummies will be rumbling. Banish hunger without resorting to anything that comes out of a vending machine with our go-to after-school snack picks.

Cereal may be breakfast fare, but transforming it into on-the-go Strawberry Banana Cereal Treats launches it into snack territory. These sweet and tangy cereal bars are loaded with freeze-dried strawberries and bananas, as well as whole-grain cereal and mini marshmallows.

If you’ve ever decked yourself out in an all-white outfit in October in a defiant act of who-ever-decided-I-couldn’t-anyway, then you aren’t alone. Though fashion worshipers may call wearing white after Labor Day an extreme and unforgivable faux pas (because how dare you), it’s one of those rules that either you follow or you don’t. Around here, we have our own issues when it comes to accepting that (sigh) summer is over and we have to move on with our lives. Though foods don’t necessarily fade out of style, they do fall out of season. There are a slew of foods that are on the summer-only list, though no food police is ever going to come after you if you eat them in another season. These are the dishes you should cook outdoors before Labor Day comes and goes (and they look mighty fine next to a pair of white jeans, might we add).

Once you put your rickety charcoal grill into storage, your chances of chowing down on a hot dog nosedive. That’s because hot dogs just taste better when they’re all juicy and char-marked — especially when you toast the buns on the grill too. Fire up the grill one last time for Bobby Flay’s Grilled Link Hot Dogs with Homemade Pickle Relish (pictured above) before you put your hot-dog-eating pursuits on hold until next year.

The days that can entail plans for a picnic are numbered, and Labor Day might be your last opportunity for a true eat-outside affair this year. End the summer season the right way with our tips for how to plan the perfect picnic, plus our full lineup of picnic-perfect recipes.

If you haven’t gone for one of our brand-new Brick-Pressed Sandwiches just yet, what are you waiting for? The impressively jam-packed sandwiches, like this Italian Combo and Broccoli Rabe Pressed Hero number (pictured above), rely on the force of gravity, which helps load as many ingredients as humanly possible into one sandwich — and they might just be the feed-a-crowd element your picnics have been missing.

Unless you’ve shielded your eyes from your calendar at all costs (we don’t blame you), you know September is approaching — and fast. No matter how many beaches you’ve hit, parks you’ve sprawled in or weekend trips you’ve taken, we can guess there’s one summertime tradition you still haven’t gotten enough of: the outdoor cookout. Before it’s too late, live it up over the long Labor Day weekend and celebrate the end of summer with our favorite cookout-ready recipes.

Even if you think that burgers have no season, you can bet that they taste better fired up on a hot grill (while you’re in your bathing suit … with a cold beer in your hand). Go big over Labor Day weekend with Trisha Yearwood’s Cheese-Stuffed Burgers, which trade the usual slice of cheese on top for a molten, gooey and cheesy center.

Summer is sadly on its way out, and the only logical reaction we have to this conclusion is to raise a glass. But don’t do it alone — toast the season’s end with a crew, and serve any one of our favorite big-batch drinks.

Grab your pitcher by the handle to house Bobby Flay’s zippy, refreshing and crowd-sized Mojito Limeade. Once it’s poured into everyone’s glasses, this triple dose of lime (muddled in with the mint leaves, stirred into a minty syrup, and poured in with the rum and club soda) will electrify the senses.